On Sunday morning, LO, YS and NHO did not reach the end of the mediation in the wage settlement. Employees who will work on Sunday will thus show up for work as planned.
Riksmekler Mats Wilhelm Ruland meets the press with an update on the mediation in the collective bargaining negotiations between LO / YS and NHO. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB
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11. apr. 2021 00:42
Last updated 13 minutes ago
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– Nothing new yet. All meet as normal at work, writes LO’s Eva-Charlotte Stenset in an SMS to NTB just after 08.00 Sunday morning.
– Do not know when the mediation ends, Stenset writes further.
There is a danger that more than 30,000 will be taken out on strike if the parties do not agree on the mediation, which has lasted more than eight hours of overtime. As the parties did not agree by 6 o’clock, employees who may be taken out on strike are told to show up for work as planned on Sunday.
These are asked to wait for further notice of a possible strike. The wage settlement sets the framework for negotiations in other sectors later this year.
– It is difficult
– The time is so much now that I do not think it will happen at dawn, but we have agreed further meetings this morning, says Ombudsman Mats Ruland to NRK just after 8 o’clock.
– The atmosphere is professional. It is difficult, the parties have not reached an agreement yet, they have been sitting in meetings all night, and will sit in meetings throughout the morning and. But it is a demanding mediation, he continues.
LO, YS and NHO have been mediating with the Ombudsman since 10 o’clock on Friday, and the original deadline for agreeing was at midnight.
Blocked inside by corona rules
There may be negotiations well into the morning hours on Sunday, NTB has been informed by sources close to the negotiations.
Due to the coronary restrictions, the parties are sitting separately at Hotel Opera in central Oslo. They are not allowed to leave their zones or walk around the hotel freely. The parties are also not allowed to leave the hotel area to go to the store, for example.
The many measures make the negotiations more complicated than usual, admits national mediator Ruland.
Disagree on pay and lift for low paid
The corona pandemic makes the negotiations extra challenging this year. The parties do not sit together physically due to infection control considerations, which makes mediation extra demanding, Ruland has stated.
This year’s settlement is a so-called interim settlement, where only salaries are negotiated. NHO proposes a wage increase of 2.2 percent to ensure competitiveness.
There will actually be a decline in the purchasing power of Norwegian workers as inflation is estimated at 2.8 per cent this year. Therefore, LO demands a wage increase of at least 2.8 percent.
In addition, LO demands a boost for low-wage earners. This will probably be the decisive point in mediation, according to FriFagbevegelse. NHO is opposed to it being given at all and demands that it should include fewer than in previous years if it is to be given.
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